Criteria for Evaluating the Quality of Health Information on the Internet
The Internet is vast with resources of varying worth. This page was created to suggest criteria to consider when consulting Internet resources about health topics. Evaluation criteria can be divided into two main areas: **Content** and **Design**. =Content=
Accuracy (Validity)
Is the information valid and supported by evidence? Are omissions noted? Is the author's point of view objective and unbiased?
Authority
Who is responsible for the information? What are the author's creditials? Is a mechanism in place for you to contact the author?
Currency
When was the site created? Was it updated recently?
Disclaimer
Does it state that the content is not medical advice?
Intended Audience
Is this source too elementary, too technical, too advanced, or just right?
Links
Are there links that point to additional, valuable resources with minimum effort?
Purpose of the site
Is the purpose of the site clearly stated? Does the site match its purpose? Is the site intended to educate or sell?
Uniqueness
Does the site offer unique information?
====Design====
Ease of use
Is the site designed to make it easy to navigate? Are menus arranged logically? Do function buttons stand out?
Attractiveness
Are colors and graphics used to make the site functional and attractive?
====References====
Ambre J, et al. Working draft white paper: criteria for assessing the quality of health information on the Internet. [October 14, 1997 edit date].
Murray, S. Separating the wheat from the chaff: evaluating consumer health information on the Internet. Bibliotheca Medica Canadiana.Summer 1998; 19(4):142-145.
====Additional Links==== Health on the Net (HON) Code of Conduct for Medical and Health Web Sites Health on the Net (HON) is a not-for-profit medical information portal linking to trustworthy sites on the Internet. The portal offers two medical search tools, MedHunt and HONselect as well as the HON Code of Conduct (HONcode) that delineates qualifications sites must manifest in order to be considered authoritative, trustworthy Web-based medical information. Evaluation of Information Sources. Evaluation of Health Information Sources is part of the Information Quality World Wide Web Virtual Library. The page provides pointers to criteria for evaluating information resources, particularly those on the Internet. Google Topic: Health Google Health Topic provides a means to search across health websites that have been labeled by reputable contributors. Health websites have been annotated with labels. Labels may be used to further refined to further refine a search. MedlinePlus Evaluating Health Resources Gateway MedlinePlus, itself a provider of trustworthy health information, also provides a page dedicated to evaluating health information. In addition to this gateway, Medline Plus also provides Evaluating Health Information: A Tutorial (requires Flash player).
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Criteria for Evaluating the Quality of Health Information on the Internet
=Content=
- Ambre J, et al. Working draft white paper: criteria for assessing the quality of health information on the Internet. [October 14, 1997 edit date].
- Lyman Maynard Stowe Library, University of Connecticut Health Center. Evaluating web sites for consumer health information. http://library.uchc.edu/departm/hnet/evalgu.html
- Murray, S. Separating the wheat from the chaff: evaluating consumer health information on the Internet. Bibliotheca Medica Canadiana.Summer 1998; 19(4):142-145.
====Additional Links====Health on the Net (HON) Code of Conduct for Medical and Health Web Sites Health on the Net (HON) is a not-for-profit medical information portal linking to trustworthy sites on the Internet. The portal offers two medical search tools, MedHunt and HONselect as well as the HON Code of Conduct (HONcode) that delineates qualifications sites must manifest in order to be considered authoritative, trustworthy Web-based medical information.
Evaluation of Information Sources. Evaluation of Health Information Sources is part of the Information Quality World Wide Web Virtual Library. The page provides pointers to criteria for evaluating information resources, particularly those on the Internet.
Google Topic: Health Google Health Topic provides a means to search across health websites that have been labeled by reputable contributors. Health websites have been annotated with labels. Labels may be used to further refined to further refine a search.
MedlinePlus Evaluating Health Resources Gateway MedlinePlus, itself a provider of trustworthy health information, also provides a page dedicated to evaluating health information. In addition to this gateway, Medline Plus also provides Evaluating Health Information: A Tutorial (requires Flash player).
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